For the next year on a weekly (barring any real life issues coming up), I will be posting chapters of this fanfic. Oh it'll still star Ashla, but this time she gets her own full length fanfiction.
So, without further ado, lets begin.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Shadowchasers.
00000
0000000000
SHADOWCHASERS:
INTO DARKNESS
0000000000
A SHADOWCHASERS FANFIC BY
RUIN QUEEN OF OBLIVION
0000000000
CHAPTER ONE:
THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN REACH ME NOW
0000000000
00000
In all my time as a member of the Shadowchasers, I've worked with and made lasting friendships with many of its members.
Many of them have been among the more honored members of the organization, such as the Boston Shadowchasers who defeated Jalie Squarefoot.
But one stands out as one of the most unique members of the Shadowchasers. Its rare to see a member of her species in this capacity.
Who am I talking about? Well, let me tell you about the last time we worked together.
October 19, 7:00 PM.
New Jersey, the Pine Barrens.
The Pine Barrens was a forested area in Southern New Jersey that took up a good portion of the state. The Shadowchasers had barely ever needed to have a presence in this part of the state. While there were several clans of Shadowkind living there, they mostly kept to themselves.
A woman moved through the forest quietly, she was a female Dark Elf dressed in hiking gear with her long white hair tied into a ponytail. Ashla Da'rok was the Shadowchaser assigned to Atlantic City, but she tended to work the state as a whole. It was rare that her job brought her out to the Pine Barrens, and today was one of those days.
The Pine Barrens had been the site of unusual settings on and off for well over a century, but the Shadowchasers had written most of them off as just local legends. Recently however, Ashla had been following a series of sightings in the Pine Barrens that more closely resembled Shadowkind activity.
It seemed that the Jersey Devil may just be real after all. There had been reports of people being attacked in the Pine Barrens by a monsterous figure that resembled the traditional depictions of the infamous monster.
"Little Dark Elf, all alone," a cackling voice called out from somewhere nearby. Ashla placed her hand on her sword. "Do you really think that's going to help?"
"Who are you?" Ashla asked as she drew her sword just a little bit.
"Power told is power lost," the voice replied and then jumped downin front of her. The figure that emerged was a towering 7 feet tall with tattered wings and short horns. "If you must call me anything, call me the Jersey Devil."
"All right Mr. Devil," Ashla said with a groan. "You've been terrorizing people coming through the Pine Barrens for awhile now, mind telling me why?"
"Do I have to have a reason?" The Jersey Devil replied with a wicked smirk. "Its fun to watch the Mundanes run around scared."
"Yeah, well last time your victim suffered a heart attack," Ashla said and she shook her head.
"Yes, well, I know how things are done around here, Shadowchaser," J.D. said and he raised his arm and a black metallic duel disk and deck appeared on his arm.
"Fine," Ashla said as she took her own duel disk out of her backpack and slid one of her decks into the deck slot.
They both activated their duel disks in unison.
(Ashla Da'rok: 8000) - (Jersey Devil: 8000)
"I'll go first," Ashla said as she drew 6 cards from her deck. She took 3 of them and slid two of them into her disk and placed the third on her disk. "I'll set two cards face down, and set one monster in defense mode to end my turn."
"Not a very strong start," J.D. said as he drew a card. "I summon my Lancer Archfiend!"
A fiendish knight appeared with two long lances on each arm appeared with a cackle (1600/1400).
"Lancer Archfiend, attack her face down monster, Death Lance attack!" J.D. said and the fiend rushed forward, slamming its lances into the card before its pushed back by a fiend with wild green hair that wore purple robes (0/2000).
"Sorry, that was my Infernity Necromancer," Ashla said with a smirk. "Anything else?"
"I'll set one card face down and end my turn," J.D. said and a card appeared in front of him.
(A: 8000) - (JD: 7600)
Ashla drew a card, she glanced over the four cards in her hand and tapped a button on her disk and one of her traps flipped up. "I'll play my trap card Fine," she continued and took two cards from her hand and slid them into her graveyard slot. "And I'll play the spell card Back To Square One, so in exchange for this card in my hand..." Ashla continued as she slid the last card into her graveyard. "I can send your Archfiend to the top of your deck."
J.D growled as his monster vanished and he placed the card on top of his deck. "You're really starting to get on my nerves, Dark Elf."
"I get that a lot, I'm activating the effect of my Infernity Necromancer," Ashla continued as she took a card from her graveyard slot and set it on her disk. "So I can bring back the Infernity Archfiend I discarded before."
A fiendish monster with tattered robes and spiked hair appeared with a cackle (1800/1200).
"And with his effect, I can take an Infernity card out of my deck and add it to my hand since my hand is empty," Ashla continued as a card slipped out of her deck and she added it to her hand. "I'll set it face down, and attack you directly with Infernity Archfiend, Death Grip!"
The fiend laughed as a sigil appeared above J.D. and a hand appeared out of it and grabbed the demon and squeezed him hard.
"Not exactly off to a strong start, are you?" Ashla said with a smirk.
"Or I just lured you into my trap, I activate Damage Condenser!" J.D. countered as his trap flipped up, he slid a card into his graveyard. "And I can special summon a monster with at least 1800 attack points, so I pick my Trancer Archfiend!"
A small imp-like fiend appeared hunched over with two short wings (1500/500).
"I end my turn there," Ashla finished.
(A: 8000) - (JD: 5800)
J.D. drew a card and glanced it over briefly before he added it to his hand. "First, I'll activate my field spell, Pandemonium!" He said, and the forest around them changed into a dark, withered forest with fiendish trees. "And now I can activatethe effect of the monster I discarded with Damage Condenser," he said, and a towering monster appeared behind him. "My Imprisoned Queen Archfiend can increase the attack of one of my level 4 or lower fiends by 1000 attack."
The female fiend cackled and glowed with energy as power flew into the Trance Archfiend and its attack rose to 2500.
"And I summon my Archfiend Calvary!" J.D. continued, and a fiendish knight on a horse that held a spiral lance appeared (1900/0).
That's just great, Archfiends are always dangerous, but its nothing I can't handle, Ashla thought to herself.
"Trancer Archfiend, attack her Infernity Necromancer with Mesmeric Stare!" J.D. said with a cackle as the fiend glares at the Necromancer. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, but then Infernity Necromancer shattered into tiny pieces. "Now, Archfiend Calvary, attack Infernity Archfiend with Calvary Charge!"
The fiendish calvaryman charged forward and slammed its lance into the fiend and it shattered.
"And I will end my turn there," J.D. finished as his monster's attack returned to 1500.
(A: 7900) - (JD: 5800)
Ashla drew a card and frowned a little at it. One of the major disadvantages with this deck was when she depleted her hand, a bad draw could hurt her chances. "I'll, set this monster in defense mode and end my turn," she said and a horizontal card appeared in front of her.
"A bad draw, huh?" J.D. taunted and drew a card. "I'll use my Imprisoned Queen's effect again, and raise the attack of my Calvary by 1000."
This isn't good... Ashla thought as she glanced at the monster she had just set.
"Archfiend Trancer, attack her face down monster!" J.D. ordered, and the imp glared at the face down monster and it shattered. "Now Archfiend Calvary, attack her directly with Calvary Charge!"
The calvaryman galloped forward and hit Ashla in the chest and pushed her back several feet.
That hurt... Ashla thought and placed a hand on her chest, her heart beat faster than normal, something was very wrong here.
"I'll end my turn with one card face down," J.D. finished as he slid a card into his disk.
(A: 5000) - (JD: 5800)
Ashla drew a card. "I'll set this monster in defense mode, and end my turn," she said, and another horizontal card appeared in front of her.
"I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than this," J.D. said with a smirk as he drew a card. "First, I'll increase my Calvary's attack by 1000 again, and then I summon my Archfiend General!"
The next monster that appeared was a bony fiend with orange spots here and there who leaned on a large sword.
"Trance Archfiend, attack her face down monster with Mesmeric Glare!" J.D. ordered and the fiend glared at the face down monste, it screamed as a shield with a flaming skull appeared (1200/1700).
"Sorry, but my Infernity Guardian is a bit too strong for your fiend," Ashla said with a smirk. "And before you try to attack it with one of your other monsters, since I have no cards in my hand my Guardian can't be destroyed."
"Fine, I'll end my turn there," J.D. growled.
(A: 5000) - (JD: 5600)
Ashla drew a card and slit it into her disk. "I'll play my Spell Card Wave-Motion Inferno and end my turn," she said (Infernity Guardian: 1600/2100).
"You're trying my patience," J.D. said as he drew his next card. "While I can't destroy your monster, I can at least bolster my own forces, I summon my Archfiend Soldier in attack mode!"
A horned fiend with bone armor and a long cape appeared (1900/1500).
"And that's it for my turn," J.D. finished.
Ashla drew a card, she frowned a little, she didn't normally use this card, but right now it was better than nothing. "I play the spell card, Spellbooks Inside the Pot, so we both draw 3 cards," she said as she drew three cards.
"An odd card for an Infernity duelist to use," J.D. said as he drew 3 cards as well.
"Yeah, well, sometimes you just have to take a chance," Ashla said as she looked over the cards she had drawn. "Now, I'm going to do something about your Imprisonedqueen, I activate my trap card, Dark Smog!"
Ashla's trap card that had been face down on the field since her first turn flipped up, a dark fog settled onto the field around them.
"And what does this trap do?" J.D. asked.
"By discarding a fiend from my hand..." Ashla said as she held up a card, showing a monster called Infernity Archer as she slid it into her graveyard. "I can banish one mosnter from your graveyard, like your Imprisonedqueen Archfiend!"
The towering form of the fiendish queen appeared behind J.D. and let out an ear-piercing scream before shattering.
"How dare you get rid of my Queen?" J.D. demanded.
"And its not over yet," Ashla continued unphased. "I sacrifice my Infernity Guardian in order to summon my Infernity Destroyer!" She said, and a towering fiend appeared with an explosion of fire. The fiend was muscular, with horns on his head and a set of shoulder pads (2300/1000). "And now, I play the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to tear down your City!"
A wind blew up around them and the forest returned to normal and Archfiend general shattered. Infernity Destroyer began to glow as its attack rose to 2700.
"Infernity Destroyer, attack Trance Archfiend with Destruction Claw!" Ashla commanded and the fiend charged at the imp and slashed through it. "And with my Destroyer's effect, you lose another 1600 life points!"
J.D. let out a scream as the destroyer continued forward and slashed at him.
"And I'll end my turn there, how about you give this up and tell me why you're really here?" Ashla said. "I highly doubt that you're really here just to scare humans."
(A: 5000) - (JD: 2800)
"Why I'm here is none of your buisness, if you survive this, then you may find out soon enough," J.D. said and drew his next card. "I'll set one card face down and switch my monsters to defense mode, and set another monster in defense mode."
The two fiends knelt down and a horizontal card appeared in front of him.
"And I'll end my turn there," he finished.
Ashla drew her next card, frowning a little and sliding it into her duel disk. "I'll set one card face down and attack your Archfiend Calvary with Infernity Destroyer!"
The fiend slashed through the fiendish calvaryman and then through J.D.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" J.D. grumbled.
"I'll end my turn there," Ashla finished.
(A: 5000) - (JD: 1200)
J.D. drew his next card, then he smirked, then he broke out into maniacal laughter.
"Okay... maniacal laughter... not a good sign," Ashla commented, she looked worried, this meant that the demon had something dangerous up his sleave.
"I sacrifice Archfiend Soldier and my face down Vilepawn Archfiend..." J.D. said and the two cards where consumed by fire. A massive throne emerged from the ground, and seated upon it was a towering fiend who wore dark armor with skulls lining it (3000/2000). "Welcome to the field, Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror!"
Ashla was stunned in silence, she had never seen a monster like this before, it was as if it radiated evil itself. Even Archfiend Destroyer recoiled at the sight of this monster.
"And I'm using his effect, by banishing an Archfiend from my graveyard..." J.D. continued and a card slipped out of his graveyard and he tucked it away. "And I can destroy one card on the field."
Archfiend Emperor raised his sword and slashed it through Infernity Destroyer and it shattered.
"Oh, this is gonna suck..." Ashla said with a groan.
"Archfiend Emperor, attack her directly with Sword of the Emperor!" J.D. ordered and the towering fiend rose from his throne and slammed his sword down on Ashla. "I'll end my turn with one card face down," he finished, sliding one card into his disk.
(A: 2000) - (JD: 1200)
Ashla drew her next card and glanced up at the monster above her, an idea began to formulate in her head, it all depended on what happened next. "I summon my Infernity Beetle!" She said and a dark colored hercules beetle appeared in front of her (1200/0 + 400/400).
"Hah, you're going to have to do better than that if you're going to defeat me," J.D. said with a laugh.
"Yeah, well, seeing as how my hand is empty I can sacrifice my Beetle to summon two more," Ashla continued and two more beetles appeared in front of her (1200/0 + 400/400 x2). "And I'll end my turn there."
"I don't know what your game is, but I'm ending this here!" J.D. said, drawing his next card. "I activate the effect of my Archfiend Emperor to destroy one of your Beetles!" He said, and a card slipped out of his graveyard and the Emperor slammed his sword down on the beetle.
Go on, take the bait, Ashla thought, looking at her face down card.
"And I summon my Mad Archfiend in attack mode!" J.D. said and a new fiend appeared, this one looked remotely human with wild red hair and an open torso with a skull visible (1800/0). "Mad Archfiend, attack her Infernity Beetle with Madness Strike!"
The fiend rushed forward, its claws stretched out ready to hit.
"Go trap card, Infernity Force!" Ashla countered and a shield appeared in front of the Beetle, causing Mad Archfiend to shatter. "And I get to special summon an Infernity from my graveyard, so welcome back my Infernity Guardian in defense mode.."
The shield with a flaming skull appeared (1200/1700 + 400/400).
"Fine, Archfiend Emperor, you destroy that last Infernity Beetle, Sword of the Emperor!" J.D. ordered and the towering fiend slammed his sword down onto the beetle, shattering it.
"I activate the effect of the Infernity Avenger in my graveyard, since you destroyed one of my monsters I can special summon my Avenger from the graveyard," Ashla said and a short fiendish monster with a cowboy hat and two guns appeared (0/0 + 400/400).
"Fine, I end my turn there," J.D. said.
Okay, it all comes down to my next draw, Ashla thought as she drew her next card. "I summon my Infernity Dwarf in attack mode!"
A short monster with a pointed hat and beard appeared, holding a large axe (800/500 + 400/400).
"I still don't get the point," J.D. sneered.
"Infernity Avenger is not only a Tuner, but its level is equal to the level of the monster destroyed, so I tune together my 4 monsters!" Ashla said as her 4 monsters flew up into the sky. "The power of the infernities rise to a crescendo as doom descends from the skies. Fear comes from beyond the grave as stars combine to create a new force..."
(2* + 2* + 4* = 8*)
"Rise from the depths, Infernity Doom Dragon!" Ashla finished as a hideous dragon descendend from the sky with a roar (3000/2400 + 400).
"I don't get what the point is, sure it'll destroy my Emperor, but its not like you can finish the duel now," J.D. said with a cackle.
"Huh, you're right," Ashla said, then smirked. "Unless I activate the effect of my Infernity Doom Dragon. Since I have no cards in my hand, I can destroy one of your cards and then you take damage equal to half its attack points."
That shut J.D. up fast.
"Infernity Doom Dragon, destroy his Archfiend Emperor with Doom Purge!" Ashla commanded and the Dragon breathed black fire on the fiend, shattering it. J.D. let out a roar as the throne fell on him.
(A: 2000) - (JD: 0)
"How dare you defeat me, no mortal can defeat Myris!" "Myris" shouted in anger.
"You're also a bit of an idiot," Ashla said as she reached into her pocket and took out an Iron Flask. "Myris!"
"What? NO!" The Demon shouted as Ashla threw the flask and it drew the fiend into it.
"They never learn..." Ashla said and shook her head as she picked up the flask. Now she just had to get back to Atlantic City.
00000
October 19, 8:30 PM
Atlantic City, Ashla's Apartment.
Ashla sighed as she walked into her apartment. She had to admit that sometimes it got lonely working alone. The last time she had worked with anyone on a permanent basis was almost 30 years ago.
That was why she was surprised when she heard someone walking in the other room. She drew her sword, easing towards the door.
"Ashla, is that you?" A female voice called out from the room.
"Leslie?" Ashla asked. When she looked into the room, she saw a woman with long red hair who wore a white coat over a black shirt and jeans. "What are you doing here?"
"Its, complicated," Lesie Garett, the Shadowchaser representative from Morgana's Kin said. "Your life is in grave danger, Ashla, and I'm here to help."
Ashla blinked, she wasn't sure what to say to that.
I wasn't exaggurating, one of the most dangerous Ashla had ever faced was on its way to Atlantic City.
I had found out about it by accident when one of my allies had journeyed into the Abyss. Since then we had tried to figure out the truth behind this threat, and when we realized their target I had to warn Ashla.
I could only hope that it wasn't too late.
"Soldier soldier
We signed our lives away
Complete surrender
The only weapon we know
Soldier soldier
We knew the world would never be the same
Soldier this is where you can reach me now."
00000
So that's chapter 1 of Shadowchasers: Into Darkness.
Next chapter, Leslie tells Ashla the full details of what she has learned about what's coming to Atlantic City. What kind of threat is on the way, and what does it have to do with Ashla?
Find out next week in, "Lessons."
Happy Halloween everyone.